Get the most out of mobile, social media and video

Real estate brokers and agents attending the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco last week learned about new tools and best practices for creating and sustaining relationships using smartphones and tablets, social media and video. Because 23 percent of the traffic to real estate-related websites comes from mobile devices, it's important to design websites to be compatible, said Brian Boero, partner at real estate marketing and design consulting firm 1000watt.A smartphone's screen is smaller than a computer's, so a mobile site has to be pared down, Boero said. It should include the most important aspects of the business in a simple, top-down layout. "Simplify, highlight your most critical information," he said, pointing the audience to Google's mobile website explanatory site, howtogomo.com. Users don't want to have distinct experiences on their different devices -- "They want a single user experience," said Curt Beardsley, vice president of marketin...